NEW YORK (TIP): The Global Indian Trade and Cultural Council in association with the Consulate General of India,  New York organized  the second webinar in the series “Augmenting US India Trade Relations – 2020” on July 1.

Welcoming the panelists, Mr. H.S. Panaser, President  of  The Global Indian Trade and Cultural Council said, “US strategic and trade affairs experts feel that US and India will be key to future production of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals not only to fight Covid-19 crisis but long thereafter.

“In the United States, every seventh American is seen by an Indian doctor, which will soon be 6:1, signifying the contribution of the diaspora in the American healthcare system. Today, as the world fights the corona pandemic and the US becomes its worst victim, with over 100,000 deaths and counting, health diplomacy has emerged as the new unifier for the two democracies and the driver for an intense partnership promising a big relief to the world with a timely vaccine against the coronavirus.

“Global Indian Trade and Cultural Council” wants to accelerate and promote US India Relation in Healthcare industry. We are helping in FDI, collaborations, mergers and technology transfers and researchers and students exchange programs. The US has already identified Indian pharmaceutical companies as one of the partners for mass productions to meet global demands. We were privileged to have CFO of Bharat Biotech Mr. T Srinivas in our first Webinar and you will find another Executive who are launching a Covid vaccine

Panelists included Devi Prasad Misra, Consul (Trade, Education and Commerce), Dr. Subroto Chatterjee, Dr. H. G. Koshia, Mr. Suresh Khanna,  Mr.Roopesh Bhargava, Mr. Anand Krishnamurthy, : Mr. Gary Pasricha, Mr. Ajit Chawla,  Prof. Indrajit S Saluja, and Mr. H.S. Panaser

Mr. Devi Prasad Misra, Consul Trade, Education and Commerce at the Indian Consulate in New York participated briefly.

Dr. Subroto Chatterjee  is a Professor of Pediatrics and medicine in the division of Cardiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of a Medicine. His expertise is in the area of heart disease and inflammation. He has published over 200 papers book chapters. And has received international and national awards for his discoveries and patents. He serves as a thought leader to Merck, Novartis and has founded several Biotech companies

Prof Chatterjee  said,  “Studies show that inflammation is the underlying factor among others contributing to excessive morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 patients. And this pathology is attributable to the release of cytokines subsequent to the binding of the virus to the angiotensin-2 receptors in white cells circulating in the blood. One of these cytokines ,known as interleukin-6(IL-6) bind to cells in the blood vessels -further amplifying the release of cytokines causing multi-organ failure and death. Immunotherapy using antibody against IL-6 /IL-6 receptors has shown promise with delayed viral clearance and markedly improved recovery from infection and reduced hospitalization time.”

Dr. H. G. Koshia  is working as Commissioner at Food & Drugs Control Administration (FDCA), Gujarat, INDIA since January 2009. Notified as Commissioner of Food Safety of the Gujarat State from 5th August 2011. Diverse experience of 33 years in regulatory affairs working in government and industry. Leading a cross-functional team of 1465 diverse regulatory experts to implement; enforce applicable regulation to regulate 4697 drug manufacturers and 39865 sales units in Gujarat.

Hemant  said,  “The crisis has faded many boundaries and brought people and countries together to stand united against the fight! More so true when it comes to the pharmaceutical industry – India has stood as a strong partner and friend with many countries including the US and fulfilled the duty of ‘Pharmacy of the World’. I see tremendous avenues of US-India continued partnership in biomedical & pharmaceutical research and strengthen our regulatory & scientific relationship further. Exchange of knowledge, technology, science, and talent are few to name.” 

Mr. Suresh Khanna, Engineer by education, was Founder Chairman of M/s.Stabicon Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. A Contract Research & Development Organization and Designated Partner of M/s. Dossiers Solutions Services LLP, a leading Regulatory Affairs Company. He is a Business Advisor and Member of the Boards of a few companies in both India and abroad. Currently he is a Steering Committee Member of KDPMA, Chairman of Pharma Training Institute and Permanent Trustee of Karnataka Pharmaceutical Trust (KPT), a not for profit Organization, engaged in the upliftment of Pharmacy Education in India.

Mr Suresh Khanna said “India stated that India has a huge potential for providing Pharma Services which people generally don’t talk about. India has very experienced and qualified pool of professionals who can assist in Formulation Product Development, Compiling Product Dossiers/API DMF’s for registration in markets worldwide, SOP Writing, Clinical/BE studies & Clinical Data Management, Validation protocols, setting up Pharmacovigilance Call etc.  at a very competitive cost. These costs will be affordable by many small and medium Centers scale companies in USA, thereby making them more competitive commercially worldwide. These services are akin to services provided successfully by Indian software Industry worldwide.”

Mr. Roopesh Bhargava is an Experienced in leading and growing all sectors of a business (Pharmaceuticals/ Nutraceuticals/ Vaccines) for the last three decades with Proven Credentials. He has served Companies like Sanofi as Senior Director / Besins Healthcare as Managing Director and Bharat Serums & Vaccines as Chief Operating officer till very recently .He has the experience of having Worked in Greater India, China and US markets. Currently, he is a consultant to the Pharmaceutical Companies to make it dynamic and Progressive organization. Possessing excellent communication skills and able to establish sustainable and profitable relationships with Customers, suppliers and stakeholders across the country.

He said “India and US have to augment each other to ensure that best of the Medicines / Vaccines reach to fellow humans at an affordable price with excellent Quality. India Supplies 40% of total Generic medicine required by USA. The Capacity to Produce vaccines also lies with India as required. Hence faster approvals and joint efforts by each other is the call of the day. The advantage which India has in terms of cost efficiency, Economic drivers, Policy support and Investments can be fully leveraged under the trying circumstances for a Win- Win situation.”

Mr. Anand Krishnamurthy, CEO, Coolsoft LLC, is a fast-growing company, focused on AI and ML it is providing consulting and application development services in Information Technology. COOLSOFT combines technical expertise with in-depth business knowledge to provide the best solutions to organizations in Healthcare, Transportation and Telecom.

Anand said “In the area of Pharmaceuticals, Science and technology will and should play a key role. Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning will assist us in finding new cures for diseases. This will aid in discovery of cures for rare diseases where the ROI for the drug companies is not significant.  Technologies such as blockchain will aid in the fight against counterfeit drugs which will save lives lost due to fake drug usage and administration. AI/ML and Genomics will cause as much a change to the human race as the industrial revolution did. More importantly, the close collaboration between academia, researchers and philanthropist between India and US should and will result in making new and affordable drugs for now and the future.”

Mr. Gary S. Pasricha is the managing partner of the law firm of Pasricha & Patel LLC. He has been practicing law for over 25 years, specializing in representing businesses and individuals in business law matters such as contracting, mergers and acquisitions, secured lending, import and export regulations, labor law, and business immigration

Garry presented a ppt on laws in US under Covid 19 especially PPE

Mr. Ajit Chawla is SVP & Global Head, Digital Business Unit, Birlasoft, a CK Birla group company whose Mission statement is “Making Societies more productive by helping our customers run their business”. Guided by the company mission,

“Both lives and livelihoods are important. Return-to-work strategies need to be comprehensive yet pragmatic. While on one side, organizations in sectors such as Pharmaceuticals who engage in mission-critical operations cannot afford more disruptions, their employees also look for confidence and assurance on health & safety front to return to work. Guided by its Mission statement “Making Societies more productive by helping our customers run their business”, Birlasoft has launched a solution named intelliOpen™ that leverages digital technologies to empower its customers to make their facilities safer during and post COVID-19. intelliOpen can help organizations in all industries but considering the ones in life-sciences industry touch human-lives directly, we are specially motivated in helping them balance productivity with safety.”

Prof. Indrajit  S Saluja is the Publisher-Editor of The Indian Panorama (New York; Dallas), Advisor on Board at Global Indian Trade and Cultural Council., USA, President, Indo-US Media Inc., President, Opinio Media, Inc. is an Academician, Journalist, Writer, Poet, Speaker, Actor, Television Host/ Anchor. Recipient of many honors and awards, Prof. Saluja has served on Panjab University Academic Council and Languages Faculty and was nominated to a 2-year term on the National Youth Advisory Committee, headed by Prime Minister of India. Currently based in New York, he hails from Punjab, India where he was a college teacher of English language and literature for 35 years.

Prof. Saluja said there were enough areas and opportunities for cooperation between US and India. He underlined the present geopolitical scenario in which China which has hitherto been monopolizing trade with US , has fallen out with the nation which contributed most to its growth. It is an opportune time for India to take advantage of the situation and broaden its manufacturing base to substitute China for US needs of products from pins to toys to electronics etc.

Mr. H.S.  Panaser is the Founder and President of Global Indian Trade and Cultural Council, USA. He is a strong and innovative leader with more than three decades of experience in fortune 500 companies in Pharmaceutical, Medical Tourism and Food and Health segment in Global Marketing. Harinder had been working for over a decade as Chair for a Super PAC promoting US India relations. His Other affiliations and experience includes Chair, NJ, NY Chapter, US India Political Action Committee,  Ex. President, Global Haryana Chamber of Commerce, Advisor on Board, C3Summit International LLC, Ex. President, US SAARK Business Forum, Director A I Nexus, President – Global Marketing NYSO, India and Ex. Member on Board, Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, USA.

Panaser concluded by thanking the speakers at the panel of this webinar and saying as we quote “India has emerged as a global capital of generic medicines and can contribute to the world by producing cheap drugs, including vaccines. With US support in scientific advancement and technology at its command, a high-quality medical research enabled to India can aid the mass production of vaccines and essential drugs in India, eventually helping the world facing a crisis like Covid-19 currently.”

“In a continued effort of this series of webinars we are trying to get representatives from The Indian Council of Medical Research, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Chemicals, Government of India to join our webinar and address The Indian diaspora connected to the health care industry in the United States”, Panaser concluded. .